Electrical components often contain molded parts that are formed from a liquid crystalline, thermoplastic resin. Recent demands on the electronic industry have dictated a decreased size of such components to achieve the desired performance and space savings. One such component is an electrical connector, which can be external (e.g., used for power or communication) or internal (e.g., used in computer disk drives or servers, link printed wiring boards, wires, cables and other EEE components). To suppress the melting point and generate materials that can flow, additional monomers are often incorporated into the polymer backbone as a repeating unit. For example, naphthenic acids (e.g., naphthalene-2,6-dicarboxylic acid (“NDA”) and 6-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid (“HNA”)) have been employed in amounts of 20 mole % and above to disrupt the linear nature of the polymer and reduce its melting temperature. Despite the benefits achieved, such naphthenic-rich polymers have various drawbacks. For example, the polymers tend to have a relatively high viscosity, which can make them difficult to use in electronic components having a small dimensional tolerance. While various flow aids have been employed in an attempt to reduce the melt viscosity of the polymers, this has led to yet other problems. For instance, due to the manner in which they are employed, most electrical components are required to meet certain flammability standards. Unfortunately, however, the addition of most conventional flow aids can adversely impact the flammability performance of the resulting molded part. The use of flow aids can also deteriorate the mechanical properties of the part.
As such, a need exists for a naphthenic-rich liquid crystalline thermoplastic composition that can be more readily formed into a small dimension part, and yet still attain good mechanical and/or flammability properties.